accidental guerrilla" by david kilcullen and of course "outliers" by malcolm gladwell. you can see more about all ten of our 2009 book recommendations on cnn.com/gps. don't forget, gps has joined the social networking revolution. go to cnn.com/gps to find out how to follow us on facebook and twitter. thanks to all of you for being part of my program this week. i will see you next week. tonight, a senior white house adviser breaks news on cnn, warning of the world of a possible al qaeda terror attack against u.s. and british interests. we will get to that story just ahead. first, breaking news on how the rules of air travel are about to change. hello, everyone, i'm don lemon reporting tonight from new york city. those new developments from the white house, released just moments ago in the aftermath of the botched christmas day airline bomb. starting at midnight, all travelers flying into the u.s. from abroad will be subject to

stricter random security measures. and if you are flying from a terrorism-prone country, expect a full screening. a statement released just moments ago reads, "tsa is mandating that every individual fly nothing the u.s. from anywhere in the world traveling from or through nations that are state sponsors of terrorism or other countries of interest will be required to go through enhanced screening." senator charles schumer has his own plan for tightening airport safety. he says u.s.-based airlines should threaten to stop flying to airports with lax security. new york democrat wrote to the heads of the major airlines today, asking them to report any security issues to foreign airports. and he says if those problems are not fixed, we should stop landing there. schumer also asking the state department to double-check all travel visas for people added to a terrorist database. it is the most dramatic evidence yet that yemen is emerging a as

new and increasingly serious terror concern for the united states and the west. the u.s. government today closes the embassy in yemen's capital, citing security threats and the continued possibility of terrorist violence. britain has shut down its embassy as well. president obama's assistant for homeland security and counter role explained the situation on cnn's "state of the union." >> i spoke with our ambassador in yemen both this morning as well as last night there and are indications that al qaeda is planning to carry out on attack against a target inside of sanaa, possibly our baechls and what we do is to take every measure possible to ensure the safety of our diplomats and citizens abroad. so the decision was made to close the embassy. we are working very closely with the yemeni government on taking the proper security precautions. >> as we have been reporting, u.s. cent com commander general david petraeus informs yemen yesterday for talks with that country's president. the u.s. embassy is in the capital of sanaa and the

ambassador is steven secky, a career foreign service officer who has been with the state department nearly 30 years. the embassy serves the typical duties for u.s. citizen there is and handles other diplomatic responsibilities, including visas and passports. what does this mean, stricter policies? the administration is becoming more serious about this? >> well, let me just address the swaituation in yemen and the closing of the embassy there as a general rule, closing an embassy is not pulling up stakes and leaving the country. rather, it's a tactical maneuver to reduce exposure when there is a specific threat.

even when the base is closed, essential cooperation with the yemenis continue, despite that closure. >> we had the general david petraeus meeting at the base yesterday and now this appears to be an escalation that is not stopping one more step added to. this so being the former ambassador there, what does this mean, what is the next step, if any in this process? do you think this is the end or more steps will be taken? >> well, i think what you are seeing is reaction -- action and reaction. during the previous month there have been several strikes against al qaeda in yemen. and it is not surprising that they should attempt to respond to those attacks with their own

initiative. and i wouldn't necessarily see this as a dramatic escalation but rather a understandable back and forth between the government of yemen on one side and al qaeda on the other. and i think the critical issue here is which side is able to gain the offensive and maintain the offensive. >> this morning, i want to read the direct quote again from mr. brennan. he said there are indications that al qaeda is planning to carry out an attack against a target inside of sanaa and possibly our embassy. he also said that what we do to take every measure possible to enhance the safety of our diplomats and citizens abroad so that a decision was made to close the embassy. he made that news, again, as we said this morning on cnn. then where might the information come from that there was an imminent or not sure as ambassador, if you want to

comment on this. do you believe that there was an imminent threat or possibility of a threat here, otherwise, they may not have closed this embassy? do you believe that a threat was imminent? >> well, i'm not privy to any particular intelligence, but i think you can take mr. brennan at his word f he says there was a threat, i think we can certainly credit that. >> thank you very much, ambassador hull, former ambassador hull, we appreciate you joining us again this evening on cnn. >> you're welcome. and president obama yesterday made a direct connection between the christmas day terror plot against u.s. airline to al qaeda fighters inside yemen. today on cnn's "state of the union" the president's assistant for counterterrorism talked with our gloria borger about what u.s. agents knew before the christmas day attack. there is a report in "newsweek" this morning that you personally received intelligence from saudi officials that al qaeda might try to use an explosive hidden in underwear?

that's what mr. abdulmutallab did. what did you do with that information when you got it? >> i think the report you are referring to is at the attempted assassination attack against the prince in late august. >> yes. >> within a week of that attack, i was in saudi arabia, met with the prince, went to the room where the attack took place. we shared information completely throughout the government. petn was the substance that was used in that attack. we were looking very carefully at that. there was no indication at the time that there was going to be an attempt against an aircraft what we need to do is try to stay ahead of it. >> was the faa put on alert about this, that people might be coming through airports with explosives? >> there was nothing in that assassination attempt against the prince that indicated aviation was a target. he was sitting there the suicide bomber came next to him. very concerned about the possible assassination attempts. we have been taking steps, as we get this information. >> the faa didn't know? >> the faa, they get all the information that is available to

the intelligence community that relates to terrorist threats. so, we have that system working well but clearly in the case of mr. abdulmutallab, the system didn't work the way it was designed to. >> before he was a bomb suspect, umar farouk abdulmutallab was reportedly a student of extremism, known by british intelligence for his political ties while at school in london. a british official tells the associated press that the my year january man started making contact with extremists under surveillance a year after arriving in the uk but no one considered him enough of a threat to alert american authorities. a florida man accused of going on a shooting rampage thanksgiving day and murdering four of his relatives is now in custody and it is all because of a tip from a television viewer. palmeiro hiu paul merhige he was arrested last night after the owner of the hotel where he was staying recognized him from "america's

most wanted." the father of a 6-year-old girl was relived when he heard the news. >> i will be able to sleep better tonight and won't be patrolling the inside of my house with the shotgun, thinking the monster is right around the corner. i have been in protective mode now that he is captured, at least my family, we can -- even begin the healing process. >> merhige is accuse of kill his 79-year-old aunt and his twin sisters, one of whom was pregnant. he is being held without bond on four counts of murder. an nba player admits to having a gun in the locker room but part of the story he didn't talk about that everyone else is talking about and we are getting new video this afternoon out of concern, as anti-government protests -- protesters raise their voice against the regime. we are monitoring the today's developments and will check in. president obama preparing for his next big policy push. you may not like this one, kids.

parents, you might not either. we want to know what is on your mind. make sure you log on. those are the sites right there.

man this story is really getting a lot of buzz on the internet, on the blogs. so pay attention to this. nba star gilbert arenas says he used "bad judgment" in taking guns into the washington wizards' locker room. arenas spoke last night after two days of reports regarding an alleged locker room showdown between two players.

our national correspondent, susan candiotti reports, the case is attracting attention far beyond the sports world. >> reporter: washington wizards guard gilbert arenas is a throw-time nba all star but his alleged locker room gun antic does get him into serious foul trouble legally. >> i'm a jokester, nothing in my life is actually serious. >> reporter: it is no joke. the d.c. police, u.s. attorney's office and national basketball association all say they are investigating. the new york post reports that arenas and team mace crittenden drew guns on each other january 1st over a card-playing gambling debt. i can't speak to that if you have known me, i have been here, never did anything violence, do anything funny, it is funny to me. >> reporter: team owner says arenas kept the gun in his locker without ammo, a practice they call dangerous. guns have no police in a work

police environment and we will take further step tones sure this never happens again. >> i agree. that is bad judgment on my part. i take responsibility for that. >> reporter: some professional athletes own or carry guns, saying they consider themselves potential targets that need protection. protection from attacks like that suffered by washington redskins defensive back sean taylor, who was murdered in his miami home during a robbery, but carrying a gun can be costly, even for a celebrity. ex-new york giants wide receiver plaxico burress is currently serving a two-year prison sentence for illegal possession of a gun after accidentally shooting himself in the leg at a nightclub. megastars like cleveland cavaliers lebron james and shaquille o'neil create fan frenzy when they hit the court and postgame, fans get up close a and personal with their heroes. shaq, who works with police in his spare time, declined to talk

about the arenas incident. >> ask but the gilbert arenas incident. >> no. >> reporter: either did lebron james but he did talk about security in general. >> i live in akron, ohio, which is my hometown. to so, i don't need security. i don't travel with security. one thing i do is continue to just make sure my family is always safe. our national correspondent susan candiotti joins us now. susan, we have been discussing this, everyone is talking about this story, far beyond a sports story. real quickly though what are the rules about this? >> here's what both the nba and the nfl says. they ban the use of guns by players, handling guns on company time or on company property that's even if they show up at charity events. on top of that they recommend against personal use for their own player's protection. the discussion now really with whether teams should be adding a gun clause to personal

contracts, for example, banning them, just like they do skydiving or let's say boxing or car racing. >> i can't believe i'm having this conversation with you about guns. i mean it just seems like such a common sense sort of thing. by the way, have heard from crittenden and any of the other players about this? >> we have reached doubt gilbert arenas and not heard back from him. we have also reached out to crittenden's agent, haven't heard back from him either, but the new york post says that the agent says that his client will be exonerated when all is said and done. but everyone wants to know what does arenas have to say specifically whether about whether he drew a gun or gun play going on in the locker room or not? and he -- all essaying is he is going to talk with investigators about it. >> he does have to speak to investigators in. >> he sure does and says he is going to do it to he's to he got the u.s. attorney's office involved, the d.c. police and, of course, the league. they want to talk to him about it as well. >> my, gosh. all right, susan, thanks. keep working this story. tell you, susan, you have been -- have you tweeted him or

have you been following his tweets on -- >> both. >> both? i'm going to tweet him as well, maybe he will teat me back or come on. susan is working the story, get more information, we will bring it to you. joining us now los angeles is veteran nba analyst and nationally syndicated radio show host steven a. smith. i wish it were for a better subject than this. what is your take on the new york post report that arenas and krint den drew guns on each other in the locker room over a gambling debt? appear there is credibility to the story because they are responding to it? >> first of all, number one, peters vericy broke the story, outstanding job by him. right on the money, according to numerous sources i spoke to in the league. not a single thing he reported that is incorrect. the fact is that they did get into an altercation and ultimately comes down to a situation where gilbert arenas, if he is convict of a felony, ultimately charged and convicted, he will lose out on as 111 million contract, $100

million on that left. crittenden will be pushed out of the league and ernie begun feld, president of the washington wizard does have his job in depp jeopardy because of the reports in yesterday's new york post by peters vericy and someone else, i might aerkd the fact is that ernie begun feld reported that gilbert arenas did have guns in the locker room. it wasn't reported to the nba, according to league sources, was there was an altercation involving those guns. an entirely different matter all together, an important matter that is why the nba is very unhappy about that. >> altercation involving guns in the locker room, right, want to get that -- between them at the time? >> yes. and according to my sources, what happened was that after getting into an argument over a gambling debt that didn't even amount to more than $500, the next day, when crittenden walked into the locker room there were three guns laying in his locker area, according to numerous sources that i had spoken to talking a all right now. >> this is according to your

sources? >> according to my sources. apparently, three guns laying in the locker room, gilbert arenas staying in the locker room was take one and used an expletive word to say take one, expletive and when everything just basically elevated. >> this is according to steven a. smith's sources, cnn hasn't confirmed that. good information, steven. did they have a beef before this? did you know anything before this? >> not to my knowledge. the sad thing, gilbert arenas is a very affable individual to know him, a lot of people like him. he doesn't mean any harm to anybody in usual circumstances, but he is going through a lot in his life. this is a guy abandoned by his mom at the age of 3 1/2 years old. >> that is not an excuse. not an excuse anyone should act in that behavior. >> who is saying it anst an excuse. that wasn't me, just giving you some background information to the psychological issues that this guy has had to deal with. that is just one of the things. obviously, when you get $111

million, you get a bit of a big head. clearly, he is engaged in a strong level of idiocy and be dealt w i can assure you this whether it is the u.s. attorney's office, whether it is the metro police in d.c., no matter what they do, trust me, commissioner david stern is going to have something to say about this, i wouldn't be surprised by friday this man is suspended the rest of the year. >> talk about it here, bringing guns, three guns, suspended is that really enough? what is going on that people feel, especially these players, that they have to carry guns or bring guns into a locker room? i can't believe i'm even having this conversation it is common sense. you don't do -- i don't bring a gun into cnn. i don't bring a gun anywhere i go what is going on here? >> i think it is important to understand this is not the first time we have talk about the absence of common sense when it comes to professional athletes. that is number one. number two and more importantly, some of the things we talk about in the world of sports, particularly as it pertains to the african-american community that is sort of like tab books but just real, you have got

quite a few players, not the majority, but the actions of a few taint the many. you have got the actions of a few acting like prisoners in a prison yard or something. >> what do you mean about african-americans? explain that to me. >> i'm talking about the arrest of african-american players in the nfl. i'm talk about you know, the behavior of some players on the nba level of african-american descent, something that hasn't been talked about quite enough. >> you think it is cultural? >> i think you can make the ament is a cultural now, you look at the way guys act and conducting themself it is a problem lamented by league commissioners for quite some time them don't go to that level where they point out it's occurring in the african-american community because they don't want to go there, but i'm on national tv with you and i am going there. >> if you look at -- if you look at -- >> that's what we are seeing. >> both of us african-americans if you got eyes, you can see. if you look at plaxico burress and you look at all the other stories, maybe you are right there is a problem.

here's my question that i ask every time i hear a hollywood star let or someone in hollywood has gotten a dui. every movie, you know, why are you driving yourself? sometimes i don't want to drive, i take a taxi if i go out and have a couple of drinks, i am an adult, i take a taxi, i don't get into a car. so, why not get security if you are concerned about your safety and you're making millions of dollars a year? >> that's certainly a legitimate question, especially in a case of a black co-burress or in this case with other guys. i mean, the fact is if you are making that amount of money, you know what, you can afford security. so that comes to a come machine sense issue. what we are pointing to now, don, you say why isn't that the case? bus a lot of times it comes down to guys' definition of what manhood is all b even though you and i would consider that to be utterly ridiculous, the fact is when you take millions of dollars and you put it in the hands of young men who are more concerned with how they look and what kind of image they can portray about themselves. >> not being a punk or whatever. >> ramifications of their

actions there you have your answer. >> stephen a. smith, always a great cover washington. stephen, if you get any more information, please get in touch with us. no problem. talk about battling more than freezing temperatures. blustery wind chills and snow in new england. how about coastal flooding and erosion added to the winter mix? weather mix? cnn's meteorologist jacqui jeras is keeping tabs on it in the cnn weather center. hi, jacqui. >> hi, don. couple that with people trying to get around town by the airways and roadways, major travel delays plus another arctic blast is on the way. we will tell where you and when it arrives, coming up. some lunch. you hungry? yeah. me too. (door crashes in) (broadview alarm) (gasp and scream) go! go! go! go! go! go! (phone rings) hello? this is mark with broadview security.

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you know, jacqui, we all love to be home for the holidays with the snow falling and whatever, what gives with this? some people may not be able to make it home on time because of all this bad weather we are getting. >> yeah, we have had a lot of delays. in fact, start right there at the airports. you see because of this system across parts of the northeast, the windy conditions combined with some low clouds and poor visibility because of the snow. so we are looking at over an hour and a half in boston, logan. jfk, nearly two hours. laguardia, about an hour and a half. more than two hours, two and a

half almost there in newark, teeter borrow oven an hour and hour and a half in white plains, a lot of people having problems and being late. the roadways slick with the snow and temperatures below freezing across much of the country means that you're going to have slick spots and certainly bridges and overpasses in particular certainly on the rough side. let's take a look at what this system has been doing across parts of the northeast. first, we will talk about some of the wave action, the strong winds kicking up big waves and causing quite a bit of coastal flooding. these pictures from massachusetts along the coastal areas and there you can see those big waves zwechl have some home which is were damaged and flooded as a result of. this and this wasn't just massachusetts, this was all the way up the coast in maine as well as the canadian maritimes. now the fun part of it was the snow. and some people having a good time in rhode island as a result, making a little snowman there about three to six inches total in the providence area. but we had some really impressive numbers further up to the north as we get into northern new england. check out this.

more than two feet in south burlington, vermont. 21 inches in randolph, new hampshire. 17 in augusta, maine and mount vernon, 15 inches. our low continues to linger here across the northeastern corridor. finally start to watch this begin to pull away by tomorrow. so watch for the snow to lessen and watch for the winds to decrease as well. now the cold air in place here behind this system bringing in a lot of lake effect snow showers. around the buffalo area, if you saw the game today, it was just a big mess there. we had up to two feet in the tughill plateau this will continue to be an ongoing story. big plunge of cold air this weekend wasn't bad enough this will be coming into the nation's midsection, pushing eastward. by the middle of the week with, don, i think wednesday the worst day and may get snow into some southeastern states before the week is out. so the cold air continues to grip the u.s. >> when are you going to be talking about sunny, balmy afternoons all over the country? >> a couple months perhaps. yeah. >> patience is a virtue, right? thank you, jacqui.

>> sure. political tensions are reaching a boiling point in iran. the government threatens to take an even harder line against protesters. we have a live report for you. congress gets become to work this week. the focus, health care. we will take a look at what's next in the battle for reform. host: did the waltons take way too long to say goodnight? mom: g'night john boy. g'night mary ellen. mary ellen: g'night mama. g'night erin. elizabeth: g'night john boy. jim bob: g'night grandpa. elizabeth: g'night ben. m bob:'night. elizabeth: g'night jim bob. jim bob: g'night everybody, grandpa: g'night everybody. @y jim bob: g'night daddy. vo: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more.

boarding a flight bound for the u.s.? get ready for changes at the security check point. the tsa says starting at midnight, everyone getting on an international flight heading into the u.s. could be subjected to stricter random searches. and if you are flying from countries identified as state sponsors of terrorism, enhanced security measures are a must for every single passenger. the state department lists those as cuba, sudan, syria and iran. a federal counterterrorism official says the other countries of interest the tsa alludes to include pakistan, yemen and nigeria. the crackdown comes nine days

after a botched bombing of a detroit-bound airliner. u.s. has closed its embassy in yemen, citing the threat of a possible potential terrorist attack. britain closed its embassy there as well. president obama's top adviser for homeland security and counterterrorism tells cnn there are indications that al qaeda might launch an attack in yemen's capital, possibly against the u.s. embassy. no word with on when the embassy might reopen. the month-long manhunt for a florida man accused of gunning down four rel toichbs thanksgiving day is over. paul merhige made his first appearance in a palm beach court this morning, arrested about 200 miles from the crime scene in a there keys motel last night. moat tell's opener recognized merhige from an he had sewed of "america's most wanted". new video and strong words in iran today adding to the political powder keg there. this is amateur video. take a look.

this video is believed to be from weekend's bloody threat, street battles that left eight opposition protesters dead. government official also been saying that no guns were used but this appears to show a man in black firing several shots and new today, iran's interior minister threatened to take a harder line, saying police are under orders to show no leniency to protesters. this comes one day after opposition leader mir hossein moussavi said he is willing to die for his cause. >> free press for iran. no more justice. >> human rights, democracy and freedom of the press, deet manneds of iranian protesters are being brought to president obama's doorstep. about 100 people rallied just outside the white house today and they say the world is looking for answers from president obama.

>> if obama doesn't speak up and condemn more strongly his human rights violation and lend his support more to the green movement, the government will feel in power to condition continue with the rape and torture and killing on the streets. >> the world has watched this on -- you know, on youtube, on facebook, 'cause foreign journalists are not allowed to go there all these videos have come us to and we have seen how the government has violently crushed down this movement. >> we have actually been writing letters to the white house and i that is the most effective but we have also been doing protests, i feel like if we do protests and it's on video, people in iran will have a little more hope knowing we are with them at the same time. >> a lot of the protesters talking about the amateur video out of iran. our cnn world headquarters in atlanta, rez zblarks you have uncovered new footage for us? >> don, new footage a couple of hours ago work did he something that is pretty rare and that is to tape record a conversation with a supporter of the

opposition movement in iran. of course, we have gotten a lot of dramatic video throughout the past couple of months from the protests, but speaking to some of these demonstrators has been difficult. one, because of the strict media restrictions in iran and two because a lot of these people are afraid, afraid iranian security officials are listening on their phone conversations. a couple hours ago, we spoke to a 28-year-old man. we will call him hesam to protect his identity. he says's researcher, a supporter of the opposition movement who has taken part in most of these demonstrations, including the one seven days ago, last sunday, yes said he was attacked by security forces. of course, people have died in these demonstrations, hundreds of people have been detained. we asked hesam, are you afraid, and if so, why do you keep going out there? here's what he had to say. >> i'm afraid, you why but i don't have any choice it is not a good way just to see it at home and do nothing.

so i want to change the condition if i want to have a better life, i have to do that yes. maybe it is -- the condition. maybe i would be attacked, maybe i would be shot, maybe i would be killed, maybe arrested. all of them could happen. i, myself, i do my job. >> hesam, what do you and your fellow protesters want from these demonstrations? what will make you say, okay, i'm not going to protest anymore? i'm satisfied? >> i think what -- you know, the -- i just -- i need the country to be testimony mock crat advertised and i need democracy. based on the outcontext. because we have -- i think we need a democracy based on our context.

main principles, freedom of speech, the civil rights, for example, the human rights, minorities. and everything that is common and universal in democracy, for muslim democracy to work. >> that's what you see here so often from supporters of this opposition movement that they want true democracy, a freer, more open society, a change in election laws, a more representative government. we also asked hesam in iran where do you think all of this is head ted? said based on what he has seen, chances of these two sides coming to an agreement is unlikely. he expects to see more turmoil, don and more bloodshed. >> much more to talk about this with this story. we will pick up our conversation at 7 p.m. eastern here on cnn. thank you so much, sir. reza standing by at our iran desk. congress is back in session this week and the fight over health care once again takes center stage. get now to our political

director, paul steinhauser. i always get your title and mark's -- mark preston's title all jumbled up. happy new year to you. good to see you. talk about health care reform. what's next? >> don, i guess could you say it was overshadowed big time by that national security and terrorism incident over the holidays but definitely not been forgotten. as you mentioned, congress coming back later in the month but house and senate negotiators definitely starting this week will start trying to work it out. the time line here, democratic leaders in congress would love to get a bill to the president for his signature before he gives that state of the union address at the end of this month or early in february, but that could be tough. and why? because these bills are very different. the house bill, the senate bill, big differences over the public option, over illegal immigration provisions, over anti-abortion pro-vicious over the price tag of the bill and over how you pay for the bill. so while the negotiators are going to be working hard whether they can get a bill to the president by the state of the union is a question mark. >> well what are the polls showing on how americans feel about health care reform?

>> we asked that did a poll before the who will days in late december. this is interesting. did asked about the senate bill at the time nearing pass arms our poll indicated that only 42% of the people we questioned were supportive of the bill. the rest, a majority, were against it. why? about an equal amount, 39% right there didn't like the bill because they thought it was too liberal and a small amount about 13% didn't think the bill went far enough t wasn't liberal enough for them. look at this next number as well. this really kind of spells it out. it really theaters in you and your family. only 22% of the people we questioned said they thought that the bills would be better for their family, would be changed for the better. 37% said change for the worse and about 4 in 10, don, said, you know what this bill not have any effect at all on my family and their health care. >> paul, even as a final bill is being signed into law, in an election year, the fight is not over yet, right? >> this battle will continue, even if this becomes law, even if the president signs the bill into launch already, we are seeing attempts by republicans

to take this bill if it becomes law to the courts them stay is unconstitutional there are two movements there remember, a lot of the provisions don't kick in until 2013 or '14. what happens after this bill becomes sflau it becomes a battle of salesmanship, the democrats touting the benefit us in the bill, the republicans saying it is time to repeal the bill already. seeing a lot of people on the right urging, telling republicans up for re-election this year that they have to mandate that they will urge for repeal of the bill. so, it is going to be a big -- it is going to be a big topic straight through the midterm elections in november, don. >> deputy political director paul steinhauser, thank you very much. president obama wants students in class more, not less but cash-strapped states are cutting the calendar. we will update administration's push for a year-round curriculum. they say it will be the tallest and probably most impressive structure of its kind, definitely a first. lad tourist attraction. and it is not even finished yet. i'm talking about the dubai tower. we will show you what it's going to look like, coming up.

president obama and his family will wrap up their hawaiian holiday vacation later tonight and head become to washington. our senior white house correspondent, ed henry, has been roughing it in honolulu

during the president's stay. a lot of issues await the president when he returns here to the mainland, right? >> that's right, don. we have been talking a lot about national security, but other big education that affect so many of our viewers, obviously is education. what is interesting, we decided to take a look about the fact that the obama administration has been pushing this idea of all year-round school. they think it will make the u.s. more competitive. ironically, here in the president's home state, they are actually going the other direction. they are cutting the number of days that kids are in school. that's angering a lot of parents. we sat down with one of those families that has been pretty hard hit by this move. like many 9-year-old, hunter gentry loves his scooter and is very creative. >> hunter gentry and i'm a chef and a bay. waaa! >> reporter: this young hawaiian has already started his own cooking show on youtube, hoping to make it big on "top chef" someday, but hunter also has bilateral hearing loss, which makes it hard to hear ss and its

at the end of words two hearing aids help, and so do special classes at school, but that's been disrupted by furlough fridays, a drastic measure by hawaii to cut 17 more class days, resulting in the shortest school year in the nation to deal with a massive budget hole. >> when he is missing friday, he is missing not only his regular school day, like everyone else, but he is missing his one-on-one resource time with his teacher and i think that that has really helped him to succeed all these years, to have that special attention. now with the teachers having to kind of juggle their schedule and squeeze in other, you know, squeeze in time on other days, he generally has to take away time from other subjects, if these at case, too. so really, it's a no-win situation. >> reporter: lela works as a makeup and wardrobe stylist and her husband is a freelance photographer so they can often work with hunter at home on

fridays but she notes other families have day care issues and she has a second child on the way. >> my time's gonna run thin. >> reporter: u.s. education secretary arnie duncan is pushing for the nation to adopt an all year-round curriculum, social angry this state is going in the opposite direction. >> everyone's having to make really tough choices but if we desperately need more time, not less, when hawaii said their certain to this tough fiscal problem was to eliminate 17 dives school, 10% of the school year, no one else has proposed that kind of answer. there has to be a better way. >> reporter: but last week, hawaii's republican governor rejected a move by the teachers union and state education officials to restore seven days to the public schools' calendar. >> i got the day off. >> so not so bad for you. >> no but -- >> he is honest. >> come on, i need a day off. >> reporter: mom wore there is while the politicians slug it out, the testing scores of her

son and others will suffer come spring. >> the biggest person that's, you know, being hurt are the students. and i think, you know, when it comes to education it should never be touched and never be cut back. >> reporter: with so many states cash-strapped across the country, i can tell you federal officials are watching very closely to see if other states follow this model. lela gentry told us that she hopes other states avoid the furloughing friday model at all costs, don. >> thank you very much. safe travels. sorry are you have to come back to the mainland. >> yeah i do happy new year. >> happy new year to you, too. sports are big business, but an event with a prize, get this totaling $420 million? that should get some folks excited, right? rick who are row will horrow wi test, his salary, 420 mill. >> a little higher. >> you wish.

tonight the cincinnati bengals and new york jets will meet in the final nfl game at

giants stadium and officials want fans excited, but sober. they're turning off the tap. jets spokesman said it would not be prudent to serve alcohol with a late kickoff and the fact it will be the last game ever at the old stadium. win or lose you can forget about drinking to that if you're going to that game tonight. oh well. there will be a new stadium. football stadium for giants and jets opening next year. there are other big-money sports stories on the horizon there. and our sports business guru analyst man around town, rick harlow joins us. let's start with indie race car driver danica patrick. >> she's no longer an indie car driver. 13 respected nascar races they're anticipating. frankly she came into the nascar world at the right time. sponsorship wise and attendance wise. she's going to do for nascar what hannah montana did for disney. we'll have to see.

>> nfl. how are they promoting the pro bowl this year? >> big deal. pro bowl, super bowl together in miami back to back. the head of the super bowl host committee says $5 million. they're going to keep people in town for the second week. dolphins eliminated from the playoffs today. never fear, they head to south florida at the end of january. >> $1.76 billion for the winter olympic games in vancouver. >> not an all-time high but it is for the winter games. after the super bowl we have 5,000 athletes, don, from 58 countries heading to vancouver. $2 billion of cost. the open, closing ceremony already sold out. hockey game already sold out. good to know in this economy it's a big event and doing well. >> world cup, too, another event. prize money $420 million. >> well, the $420 is one story, but the fact that south africa is hosting a world class event for the first time, little bit risky.

the infrastructure isn't guaranteed. we've seen it. it's going to revolutionize the world cup and bring major events to a continent that haven't had them before. >> did you have a good holiday season? >> fantastic holiday season. i drank a little bit, thinking about how we're going to make segments bigger and better for the next 30 years, my friend. how does that sound? >> that sounds great. by then i'll be really old. we won't say how old. >> really rich in. >> 30 years i'll be 40. >> okay. good math. see you next week. they say it will be the tallest structure in the world. already a tourist attraction and it's not even finished yet. we'll tour the debeau tower straight ahead for you on cnn. doesn't mean they're protected. oh, ladies. let's say you have osteoporosis. i do. you could be losing bone strength. can i get it back? (announcer) ask your doctor how to help treat osteoporosis with once-a-month actonel. actonel is clinically proven to help reverse bone loss and can help@i increase bone strength to help prevent fractures. so you can get back

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it will be the tallest building in the world, and it quite possibly will be the most expensive high-rise ever, and it is on its way to completion in dubai. cnn has a preview of what's to come. >> reporter: translates in english as dubai tower and towers over what is already a massive dubai skyline. senior vice president with samsung construction, a division of the giant korean multi-national company that is rewriting construction records with this building -- >> it's really, really scary. >> reporter: why? you can see down? >> oh, yeah, yeah. we can see just through the bottom. we can see right through the

bottom. >> reporter: the whole way to the ground? >> oh, yeah. it's really scary. >> reporter: if you fall? >> gone. >> reporter: forget it. the first. when completed and opened it will be the tallest building in the world at more than 800 meters. that's about half a mile high. it will be the building with the greatest number of floors, the world's highest and fastest elevator. when finished, after five years of construction, the cost will top out at more than $4 billion u.s. dollars, and on it goes. it is already a tourist landmark. >> it's amazing. it's great. 800 meters high. highest in the world. >> reporter: looking forward to being able to go out there one day? >> oh, sometime. >> reporter: in the sweep of human history, the burge dubai may not rank with man on the moon, but right now there is nothing else like it on earth. stan grant, cnn, dubai. >> certainly will be a very interesting building.

remember when the sears tower -- i'm not that old -- i was going to say the empire state building but i'm not that old. some of your comments now. let's read some. let's see. don, you act surprised steven a. comments, when the fact it's the mentality of youngsters in sports today. this is some of your comments. we were talking about the story of the nba players bringing the handguns into the locker room. that's from lap 58. acted surprised at steven's comments. i was not surprised at his comments. it makes me question when i see the consistency of black players getting into these kinds of troubles and one has to wonder why. another says, these players have to wonder that they are world class athletes on a world stage. time to leave the thug life behind. joshua e. porter says that's a generalization talking about issues of african-american players, male players. professional players needs to be looked into when it comes to guns, but you have to consider then